Colleen Green
Sock It to Me
Release Date: Mar 19, 2013
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Noise Pop, Punk-Pop
Record label: Hardly Art
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Album Review: Sock It to Me by Colleen Green
Acceptable, Based on 5 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
On her debut album for Hardly Art, Sock It to Me, the Oakland-based one-woman band Colleen Green comes off like a darker, more complex version of Best Coast. Like that band's Bethany Cosentino, Green loves weed, worships the Ramones, and writes simple, guitar-heavy songs about boyfriends and how to find/keep them, but there's more depth to Green's songs and a much weirder, harder-to-pin-down aspect to them that makes her work more satisfying. While the record is mostly filled with uptempo, happy rockers like "When He Tells Me," "Yr So Cool," and "Number One" (a bopping cover of a track by fellow Ramones lovers the Queers) that have power chords, thumping drum machine patterns, and hooks sharp enough to pop eardrums, there are also tracks like "Close to You" and the super-catchy "Time in the World" that dial back the guitars in favor of prominent basslines and humming synths, and have a well-constructed and moody atmosphere that shows how Green has a mastery over the limited array of tools she chooses to use.
Based on rating 70%%
Colleen GreenSock It To Me[Hardly Art; 2013]By Colin Joyce; March 11, 2013Purchase at: Insound (Vinyl) | Amazon (MP3 & CD) | iTunes | MOGTweetMaybe it's the fault of the dispensaries, but if you're not paying too close attention, it may seem like LA's sole musical export of late is of the irreverent stoner variety. In one giant belch of bong smoke, the city of angels has sent out Wavves and Best Coast (who've proven themselves the king and queen of bleary eyed beach punk) alongside skate-punk hedonists FIDLAR amongst others. And by all surface level considerations, Hardly Art signee Colleen Green appears to be of the same strain.
Based on rating 5/10
Colleen Green explores simple, sunny pop music with her latest LP, and first for Hardly Art, Sock It To Me. While Green's previous work had a punk influence (her previous release, Milo Goes to Compton, is a play on the title of the first Descendents album), her latest is grounded in pure pop. Sock It To Me consists entirely of power- and four-chord progressions, with relentless drum machine rhythms.
Based on rating C-
Few sound as comfortable with utter simplicity as Colleen Green does on her new album, Sock It To Me. Like David Byrne standing in front of the boom box beat in Stop Making Sense, it’s easy to picture Green standing in the middle of her messy bedroom, strumming a guitar with a simple drum machine half-buried in dirty laundry somewhere behind her. The songs on her Hardly Art debut, Sock It To Me, are unabashedly wrapped in ’60s pop and minimal punk traditions, the emotions straight-forward, the intent clear.
Based on rating 4/10
On her first LP, Colleen Green doesn’t make a huge leap forward from the cassette and CD-R songs on which she built most of her buzz. Sock It to Me is a decidedly modest affair, relying on tinny drum machines and Green’s fuzzy guitar. In some ways, it’s the perfect avenue for Green’s songs, all of which follow the same somewhat sloppy pattern.
'Sock It to Me'
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